Obama urged to 'send a message' to Putin with US energy exports

Republicans are challenging Barack Obama to use America's burgeoning energy production to stand up to Russia and intensifying calls for the president to loosen limits on US oil and gas exports to Europe.

In a year when the US president has vowed to use his executive powers to get things done, Lisa Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate energy committee, told the Financial Times he should put them to work on energy exports.

"It's an important signal, and the beautiful thing about this is we don't need to drop a bill and go through this whole long legislative process," the senator said. "The president can act on this."

But Ms Murkowski said she did not think Mr Obama had the "guts" to do it ahead of midterm elections in November, because Democratic donors and voters concerned about the environment would decry anything that could lead to more drilling.

The Ukraine crisis has prompted several Republican lawmakers and a handful of Democrats to issue calls - and introduce legislation - to lift restrictions on natural gas exports to reduce European allies' dependence on Russian gas.

The urgency of the calls has not been dulled by the reality that, export restrictions aside, the US will not have the infrastructure to export any gas from its shale energy boom until late next year.

A White House spokesman last week noted that no export terminals were ready and said there was little risk of a gas shortage in Europe because LNG inventories were above normal levels. He also said that Russia would hurt itself by foregoing gas revenue if it cut off supplies.

Central and eastern European countries have added to the pressure. Last week the Washington ambassadors of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia wrote to the top lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives urging them to help expedite US gas exports.

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Ms Murkowski is from oil-rich Alaska and, like several other lawmakers, supports an end to export limits partly because that is what oil and gas companies want. They say they would drill more and create more US jobs if they could sell more energy overseas.

At present there is a de facto ban on US oil exports. While US natural gas can be sold overseas, exports to countries without a trade agreement with the US - including the EU - require government approval. So far only six applications have been approved and the industry says the process is far too slow. Ms Murkowski wants to see liberalisation on both fronts.

But she said: "Will [Mr Obama] take it up in an election year? I don't think he has the guts to . . . It would be difficult for those supporters of his who are very keyed on the climate [change] issue. I think he's got a few very prominent fundraisers that would not think increased domestic production is good for this country."

<>The US's first export terminal for liquefied natural gas from the shale boom is due to be finished in the second half of next year, but even then industry experts say it is not clear that the US would have enough exportable gas to make a difference to Europe.

However, Ms Murkowski said: "The mere signal that the US is prepared to take this leadership role, that [we] are prepared to utilise our energy assets as strategic global assets . . . maybe that's going to send a message to [Vladimir] Putin that maybe he might want to be a little more co-operative with his neighbours."

Last week Republican members of the House energy and commerce committee introduced a bill that would grant immediate approval to 24 pending LNG export applications and remove future restrictions to exports to countries that are members of the World Trade Organisation.

In a debate on oil exports that predates the Ukraine crisis, some US lawmakers have expressed concern over whether overseas sales would result in higher fuel prices for US consumers.

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